Sunday, November 3, 2013

REVIEW: BORN WILD BY JULIE ANN WALKER (BLACK KNIGHTS #5)

She's got three rules:

1. Trust no one… Eve Edens has been abandoned, used, or manipulated by almost everyone she's ever met. Born into ridiculous wealth, she's dealt with the petty jealousies and sordid little resentments for nearly thirty years. But after three botched attempts on her life, she can no longer ignore the truth. Someone wants her dead.

2. Avoid the bad boys at all costs… William "Wild Bill" Reichert, the wonderfully sexy boy who abandoned her years ago, is back in town. Only he's no boy. Now he's a covert operative - and he's all man. When Eve hires Bill to help her discover who is behind the attacks, Bill soon comes to suspect it's someone much closer to Eve than she dares to believe.

3. And never fall for the same ruse twice… The search for the killer takes Bill and Eve deep into the dark secrets and strange world of the rich and famous, and into the heart of red-hot passion re-ignited by the peril that threatens to consume them both. But does Eve dare risk her heart on Bill a second time?

This is my first foray into Black Knights Inc. territory and if it is your too, let me tell that it doesn't take too long to figure out how all of the characters fit together. So no worries if you haven't read the other books in the series...you can read this one and not feel lost. I felt mildly curious at the beginning about who these guys were and some of the references of past events but, honestly, it didn't hinder my ability to enjoy the novel.I take full responsibility for her being a little bit lost. But this is one of my favorite series' of the year! Why? Two words: Military & Motorcycles. Two of my very favorite things in a book, in the same book. Need I say more? And I had to have this book. So I went all sorts of fan girl on Shel there, and here we are! I will say that while this may not be my absolute favorite Black Knight installment so far, it was still up there in my personal enjoyment! And just look at that cover. Yum. The novel starts very fast paced with an attempted murder via scooter (haha!) (Now that is funny! Hehe) --and a very quick trip to the BKI headquarters to provide a safe harbor. Eve, the person with several attempts on her life under her belt, and Bill, a BKI investigator and resident bad ass, apparently had a tumultuous past and some very hard to deny feelings for each other. Seeing as the Black Knight motorcycle shop aka secret operative compound is literally like a fortress, she picked a great place to go for safety. Since her father and the Chicago PD weren't taking her ideas about the sitch seriously. The badassery that is these boys is deep within my heart, as they're all mostly ex-Navy Seals and FBI and black ops stealth...Okay. Sorry I'll stop with all the lingo...for now! Anyway, Billy and Eve do have a lot of history, and have been dancing around each other for approximately the two books...aka last year...and Billy is fighting hand over fist to not let history repeat itself. Which is fun for us, because the tension reaches off the chart levels. As their journey to find out who is behind the attempts on Eve's life progresses we are given bits and pieces of their brief, but memorable, summer of love 12 years ago. Neither of them are able to forget the passion and love that they felt those many years ago and even though they've both lived productive lives and had other people involved with them, they are still hanging on to those feelings....although they are both in serious avoidance mode. While they both want a resolution to some bad feelings about the way things ended, neither of them wants to really confront it or talk about it or really even think about it. In the meantime there is an almost murder mystery to solve and many characters to get to know. There's Red Delilah and Mac and Ace and Jeremy and Eve's god awful father and ex, and a weirdo stalker...and lots of other interesting people thrown in the mix. I still missed an appearance from Ozzie...hmpf...I had talked him up to you majorly! LOL...he has some serious 80's music love, so I hope he comes back soon from wherever he is! (Or just read Thrill Ride!) I always enjoy Julie Ann Walker's ability to build an amazing and multi-faceted story...and this one is no different! These guys are part of each other, and most of them don't think that finding someone to be their one and only will ever happen, so it is also enjoyable to see them get knocked on their butts! Eve takes a crazy journey to finding confidence in herself and her decisions from the pretty strict rule that her father tried to put her under, so I always enjoy a story about a woman finding her inner strength. She definitely did, and the top notch writing made a well established story not get stale. <3This novel is filled with lots of one liners, action, heat, and varying perspectives. It was a nice introduction to this series. Now you just have to find time...hahaha...to read the rest. Shelley: 3 1/2 StarsCourtney: 4 Stars

Julie Ann Walker is prone to spouting movie quotes and song lyrics. She'll never say no to sharing a glass of wine or going for a long walk. She prefers impromptu travel over the scheduled kind, and she takes her coffee with milk. You can usually find her on her bicycle along the lake shore in Chicago or blasting away at her keyboard, trying to wrangle her capricious imagination into submission Visit her athttp://www.julieannwalker.com or follow her on Facebook and/or Twitter